Pointing and vocabulary (longitudinal)

  • Colonnesi et al. (2010)
  • N papers = 18, N experiments = 18, N participants = 558
  • Longitudinal correlations between pointing and later vocabulary.
  • Curator is Molly Lewis
  • Search Strategy: "The search method involved inspection of digital databases (Web of Knowledge, Picarta, PsychInfo) using the following keywords: pointing, gesture, declarative, imperative, precursors, language, words, vocabulary, infancy, intentional communication, and joint attention. Inspection of the reference section of relevant literature was an additional search method (ancestry method). Additionally, also unpublished sources were consulted, such as dissertations and presentations and studies under revision, by using Google Scholar, contacting researchers in the field and consulting digital databases of dissertations (e.g., PROQUEST). Three selection criteria were used to select studies: (a) measurement of infant production and/or comprehension of the pointing gesture; (b) measurement of language by assessing either receptive or expressive language; (c) report of a relation between pointing and language or the presence of data in the article allowing the calculation of a relation between pointing and language development. Exclusion criteria were: (a) subjects with mental or developmental disorders; (b) children older than 60 months; (c) studies in which the pointing gesture was not coded separately from other gestures."
  • Systematic: yes

Aureli, T., Perucchini, P., Palazzo, A. (2008). The development of pointing from 9 to 15 months of age in imperative and declarative contexts: relationships with actions and language. In: Poster presented at the XVIth biennial international conference on infant studies, Vancouver, Canada, 27–29 March.

Bates, E., Benigni, L., Bretherton, I., Camaioni, L., & Volterra, V. (1979). The emergence of symbols: Cognition and communication in infancy. New York: Academic Press.

Blake, J., Osborne, P., Cabral, M., & Gluck, P. (2003). The development of communicative gestures in Japanese infants. First Language, 23, 3–20.

Brooks, R., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2008). Infant gaze following and pointing predict accelerated vocabulary growth through two years of age: A longitudinal, growth curve modeling study. Journal of Child Language, 35, 207–220.

Butterworth, G. E., & Morissette, P. (1996). Onset of pointing and the acquisition of language in infancy. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 14, 219–231.

Camaioni, L., Caselli, M. C., Longobardi, E., & Volterra, V. (1991). A parent report instrument for early language assessment. First Language, 11, 345–359.

Carpenter, M., Nagell, K., & Tomasello, M. (1998). Social cognition, joint attention and communicative competence from 9 to 15 months of age. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 63, 1–176.

Colonnesi, C., Rieffe, C., Koops, W., & Perucchini, P. (2008). Precursors of theory of mind. A longitudinal study. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 26, 561–577.

Delgado, C. E. F., Mundy, P., Crowson, M., Markus, J., Yale, M., & Schwartz, H. K. (2002). Responding to joint attention and language development: A comparison of target locations. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 45, 1715–1719.

Desrochers, S., Morissette, P., & Ricard, M. (1995). Two perspectives on pointing in infancy. In P. J. Dunham & C. Moore (Eds.), Joint attention: It’s origins and role in development (pp. 85–101). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Fasolo, M., & D’Odorico, L. (2002). Comunicazione gestuale nei bambini con sviluppo del linguaggio rallentato: una ricerca longitudinale. Psicologia Clinica dello Sviluppo, 1, 119–138.

Markus, J., Mundy, P., Morales, M. M., Delgado, C. E. F., & Yale, M. (2000). Individual difference in infant skill as predictors of child–caregiver joint attention and language. Social Development, 9, 302–315.

Morales, M., Mundy, P., Delgado, C. E. F., Yale, M., Messinger, D., Neal, R., et al (2000). Responding to joint attention across the 6- through 24-month age period and early language acquisition. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 21, 283–298.

Mundy, P., & Gomes, A. (1998). Individual differences in joint attention skill development in the second year. Infant Behavior and Development, 21, 469–482

Mundy, P., Fox, N. A., & Card, J. (2003). EEG coherence, joint attention and language development in the second year. Developmental Science, 6, 48–54.

Perucchini, P., Plescia, F. (2005). Profiles in declarative/imperative pointing and early language acquisition. Research presented at IASCL in Berlin.

Rowe, M. L., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2008). Differences in early gesture explain SES disparities in child vocabulary size at school entry. Science, 323, 951–953.